


Strong and Hot

by ProfessorFlimflam



Category: Holby City
Genre: Berena Final Countdown, Countdown: coffee, F/F, Greek island holiday AU, The Greeks have a name for it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-07
Updated: 2020-01-07
Packaged: 2021-02-27 04:15:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 764
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22160905
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ProfessorFlimflam/pseuds/ProfessorFlimflam
Summary: Two solo travellers meet in a little café on a Greek island and find they have much in common, including a taste in... coffee ;-)
Relationships: Serena Campbell/Bernie Wolfe
Comments: 14
Kudos: 78
Collections: The Final Countdown





	Strong and Hot

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ktlsyrtis](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ktlsyrtis/gifts).



> A gift for KTLSyrtis for organising this farewell to Serena Wendy Campbell!

“Phew, that’ll put hairs on your chest!”

Bernie started at the exclamation from the next table. She hadn’t heard English spoken - at least, not well - for the last few days, and the outburst, delivered confidently in a rich, husky voice sounded as out of place here as the local impenetrably idiomatic Greek would have been back home in Holby. She looked round for a quick glimpse of the speaker: a woman about her own age, she judged, with short brunette hair, sparkling eyes, and a chest it would be an absolute crime to put hairs on.

“I didn’t mean literally,” the brunette said in an amused drawl, and Bernie realised to her embarrassment that her gaze had lingered on the really quite magnificent cleavage on display.

She blushed, but laughed and made proper eye contact. She had been working hard on allowing herself to enjoy her sexuality now that she was divorced, and she had finally come to believe that there was no shame in enjoying the sight of a beautiful woman - and her neighbour in the little café was certainly that.

“It’s pretty serious stuff, isn’t it?” she offered, raising her cup of coffee in salute. “I don’t usually take sugar, but I’ve had to load it up to make it palatable.”

The other woman smiled. “Strong and hot’s all I care about on a morning like this. I got in late last night, thought this might pick me up - not sure I’ll ever be able to sleep again!”

Bernie laughed with her. The coffee was as strong as any she’d tasted, almost grainy, but it was good, and despite her jib about the sugar, she’d already developed a taste for it.

“Here on your own?” she asked. “Me too - if I didn’t travel on my own, I’d never go anywhere. Are you staying long?”

Within a few minutes, they were sitting at the same table, chatting away as if they’d known each other for years. Her new friend was charmed by Bernie’s evident attraction to her - Serena had been flirted with often enough that she didn’t need it spelling out to her, and she played up to it quite happily. In all honesty, she had been half hoping for a holiday romance on this getaway, and although it hadn’t occurred to her that it might be with a woman, there was no harm in seeing where this might lead. 

Coffee turned into lunch, and lunch into a robust bottle of red shared in the afternoon sun. By the time they ordered a second bottle, they knew that they had in common a home town, a profession and a happily divorced status.

“Literally the gay divorcee, in fact,” Bernie said with a little smile, and her eyes flicked up to meet Serena’s through an unruly blonde fringe.

“Well, yes, I’d worked that much out for myself,” Serena said with a wink. “I’m not sure that I can quite say the same, but...”

“But what?” Bernie asked curiously. Serena had been not just responding to her flirting, but positively outdoing it, and she had assumed that this was one more thing they had in common. “Not gay, you mean?”

“Not sure, is probably closer to the truth. I’m very happy, anyway,” Serena said slyly. “A few years ago I would have said no, absolutely not, but these days... well, let’s just say that I’m more open to new experiences than I used to be.”

She sat back in her chair and looked at Bernie with a confident smile. _Your go._

Bernie mirrored Serena’s body language, her long legs stretching out in front of her as she leaned back. Tossing her hair back from her face, she took a mouthful of wine, swallowing slowly and noting how Serena’s gaze dropped to her throat, her lips.

“So, hypothetically, if you _were_ going to entertain a new experience, what would your type be, do you think?” She was barely holding her smirk in check.

“Well, it’s an old cliché, I know, but I think perhaps I might like my women how I like my coffee.”

“Short and black?” Bernie asked, teasingly.

“Weren’t you listening this morning? Strong and hot,” Serena drawled, her eyes sliding up Bernie’s lean frame, lingering on her toned arms before capturing her in a smouldering gaze.

“Did I tell you I was in the Army?” She stood in a smooth fluid motion, holding her hand out to Serena.

“Big macho army medic, are we?” Serena was amused, but undeniably turned on. She took Bernie’s hand and tugged.

“Come on, then soldier - show me.”


End file.
